What's Going on With all the Carps?

A few decades ago, at a marina on Lake Mead, I watched a man toss popcorn into the water, fomenting a huge boil of carp … then whack them with an aluminum baseball bat. Thump. I wish now I had asked him why — though in the moment it didn’t seem wise to approach a guy with a bat and some issues he was clearly working out — but I assume his answer would’ve been something like, What else are they good for?

This mirrors the general North American attitude toward the common carp, which is, in fact, very common — “the most widely distributed freshwater fish in the world,” or so I’ve read. It’s considered a trash fish here, a gunk-eating bottom-feeder that can live in all sorts of gross water conditions. It’s technically an invasive species, having been brought to America from Europe in the 1800s for food and sport-fishing purposes. Because carp have few impediments to population growth — as adults their only real predator is us — they spread quickly.

Wait, food purposes? Carp? Well, despite their rep here, carp aren’t inedible, according to BestofAngling.com: “In European countries such as Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, carp is traditionally eaten for Christmas dinner. Even to this day some families will purchase a carp and keep it alive in a bucket or bath until Christmas, (when) it is cooked and eaten.”

Probably won’t catch on here, though.

Cyprinus carpio
Size: 1-2 feet, 8-10 pounds, though it’s common for them to get much larger
Lifespan: Up to 20 years
Distinguishing feature: The "whiskers," or barbels, at the corners of its mouth.